This is a good read as we try to maintain our momentum of winning since Deki’s death (8 of 11). I’m just enjoying our team game by game and embracing the magic that Steph and company somehow continue to give us because deep down I think we’re all holding on to the dream that “The Golden State Warriors Don’t Think This Is the End”.
It is and it isn't. For any other rookie those are indeed insane numbers. But you, me, and the whole basketball world pretty much expected this from Wemby. Too long, too skilled to not do this soon enough. If you'd told me that fellow rookie Brandin Porskidisiaamixismki had that stat line, that would be kind of insane. I guess I'm taking Wemby for granted but he really kind of *should* block a lot of shots at his size and agility. Fair?
Pretty much everyone who's watched basketball agrees Wemby felt like he could be special, but it's okay to be amazed that a rookie is *this* special. Like the block numbers are impressive and (as you said) at least somewhat expected. Same with his rebounding. But his offensive juice is already good rotation player level imo, his vision and passing ability is much better than I remember people talking about. He looks like he could be a GOAT candidate as a rookie (assuming development and health) which is insane.
FT discrepancy for Steph (and other officiating oddities) are the only way the league has really been able to slow the Warriors, they've still got four. I've likely never seen a player take so much contact over his career with so few whistles. I'm really not the maths guy so I'll just call this conjecture a mini-rant in support of cpt nemo.
It'll never not be funny to me that people don't immediately think Curry is the best offensive weapon ever by far. If he had a better whistle (not even a *great* one, just a better one) he'd be lapping the league in scoring and scoring efficiency
Saw a 9 minute highlight reel on youtube on this game. Hidden in plain sight were the several blocks on Kuminga. I've noticed this before. Maybe the last step in his development is going to be realizing bully-ball isn't the way to go with teams that have long-armed 7 footers.
Agreed. He believes he can dunk on anyone but sometimes he needs to throw in a couple pump fakes or get crafty. I’m going to sit down with him and look at film.
Yep, the 21 y/o still has some growing to do and going inside may have been part of the game plan to try and open things up. He also had at least one dunk over a 7 footer and still seemed in control.
On pace for 387 if he keeps playing games at his current pace (i.e. if he misses a couple more games), or 396 if he plays all of the remaining 31 and keeps hitting them at his current pace. 402 potentially in sight…
Dame Lillard ... remember when we thought he was going to be Steph's successor as the king of long-distance shooting?
Shooting .345 on 3 (i.e. probably below league average) on 8 1/2 attempts a game. On the same team as Giannis and Khris Middleton (other threats for the D to worry about).
Poole's extension kicked in this year, rather than last. So, we were only paying him ~ $4 mil last season when DDV was signed. We were still $75 mil over the cap. So, even if you'd traded Poole into cap space to get off that $4 mil, it wouldn't have been nearly enough.
The only routes we had to sign him was the taxpayer MLE or a league minimum contract, AFAIK.
He never would have signed a two-year mini-MLE deal. The reason he signed with us was to rebuild his value after his stints in Milwaukee and Sac. That's why it was a player option.
"Without Curry to open the fourth, Thompson made three consecutive midrange jumpers from nearly the same location, about 14 feet out next to the right elbow"
Guess who assisted him in all those shots? De de!
Curry's shooting percentages have gone up since Dray is back.
I believe same would be true for Klay if Dray played with him more. Klay is a rhythm player and nobody can get him in rhythm like Dray.
Klay needs to be more cerebral and patient irrespective. But it's chicken and egg sometimes.
If only we could find a really good point guard to back up Curry & Dray when they're off the floor. Like the god of point guards... he could help get good shots for Klay . We could call him the Point God or something...
I’m not actually that excited about CP. he’s been fine but I wouldn’t say he’s really moved the needle much especially being a real liability on defense. And slow in transition offense. A lot of the Warrior recent surge has been about getting stops and getting into transition or semi transition. I’m not mad at CP but I think we can do this without him
Yes. Part of the new-found pep is just that we're getting stops, AND pushing it up the floor fast.
When Paul gets back, I don't know that he's going to be OK pushing the pace. It felt like he gave it a half-hearted try before the injury and then reverted back to walking it up the floor.
Drives me bananas. This team has like seven guys who thrive on chaos (Steph, Klay, Kuminga, LQ, Podz, GPII, and sorta Wiggs) . We need to push pace.
He's smart and sees what's happening though? I can't imagine CP3 just sprinting up with the ball every play, but I can see him passing ahead quite a lot
Maybe, but pushing the ball up the floor means that everybody runs ... even those guys behind the play. Which creates more pressure on the defenders who did get back. If nothing else, they will sometimes need to make some defensive decisions that wouldn't be needed if it's just a hit-ahead to a couple of guys.
I think there is a lot of benefit in just running as a discipline. It uses our depth, keeps everyone on the court focused, and it keeps the other team from settling into their half court defense, at least some of the time. And, some teams can be sped up by constant pace.
If there's nothing there when you push, you can always back the ball out and set something up. You have plenty of clock.
Plus, as I say, I think we thrive on chaos, because we're a good passing team, with lots of opportunistic scorers. I'd like to see us maximize those opportunities.
Yes, Podz shows the way here: he *always* starts out pushing the ball frantically off the rebound or inbound and either dribbles back out of the paint or holds it at the top or the wing if it's too clogged. It has unlocked a lot of read-react flow and IMO is why Kerr runs him at point so much. CP3 has to get with this program.
In regards to setting up Klay, I’m sure you’re right. Even still, I’m a little worried about whose minutes he’s going to take and whether the inevitable change of pace is what we need right now. A good problem, I guess.
Man, HIELD proving a difference-maker for SIXERS; GIANNIS/BUCKS DEFENSE destroyed DENVER; WEMBANYAMA with rare block tripled-double beats RAPTORS; MILES BRIDGES/HORNETS, upsets PACERS; and, ANTHONY EDWARDS/T-WOLVES UPEND CLIPPERS HOFers...What a night....
JP obviously has some talent, but he is floundering outside of the Warriors' ecosystem. He's rich, so there's that, but he is not becoming the best version of himself.
He's hit 10 assists once this year already, so I'd guess it'll happen within a few years tbh. With how he's look for the past like month it might happen this year lol
New thread E1P: https://open.substack.com/pub/dubnation/p/explain-one-play-klay-thompson-gaggle?r=3lm3s&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Why Steph Curry Spammed Pick & Roll On John Collins In The Clutch | Warriors Breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKKUqxadKYc
This is a good read as we try to maintain our momentum of winning since Deki’s death (8 of 11). I’m just enjoying our team game by game and embracing the magic that Steph and company somehow continue to give us because deep down I think we’re all holding on to the dream that “The Golden State Warriors Don’t Think This Is the End”.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/2/12/24070258/golden-state-warriors-steph-curry-steve-kerr-draymond-green-klay-thompson
Its kind of insane that Wemby just had a 27 pts/14 rbd/20 blk/5 ast game in his rookie fucking year.
He needs to pass the ball more smh/s
excuse me I'm sorry did you say TWENTY blocks???
Error. Ten blocks
It is and it isn't. For any other rookie those are indeed insane numbers. But you, me, and the whole basketball world pretty much expected this from Wemby. Too long, too skilled to not do this soon enough. If you'd told me that fellow rookie Brandin Porskidisiaamixismki had that stat line, that would be kind of insane. I guess I'm taking Wemby for granted but he really kind of *should* block a lot of shots at his size and agility. Fair?
Pretty much everyone who's watched basketball agrees Wemby felt like he could be special, but it's okay to be amazed that a rookie is *this* special. Like the block numbers are impressive and (as you said) at least somewhat expected. Same with his rebounding. But his offensive juice is already good rotation player level imo, his vision and passing ability is much better than I remember people talking about. He looks like he could be a GOAT candidate as a rookie (assuming development and health) which is insane.
I think what is even more astounding is that Steph Curry has scored 97 points in the last three games with only 2, yes 2 free throws!
https://twitter.com/DrGuru_/status/1757259927134117908?t=b3TPKtRH8Mb7VTg05uuAVg&s=19
Ludicrous.
FT discrepancy for Steph (and other officiating oddities) are the only way the league has really been able to slow the Warriors, they've still got four. I've likely never seen a player take so much contact over his career with so few whistles. I'm really not the maths guy so I'll just call this conjecture a mini-rant in support of cpt nemo.
It'll never not be funny to me that people don't immediately think Curry is the best offensive weapon ever by far. If he had a better whistle (not even a *great* one, just a better one) he'd be lapping the league in scoring and scoring efficiency
Wasn't one of those a tech for a three second violation? Guess he is so shifty, they can't even touch him when he drives to the hoop.
20 blocks?!
It was a typo, he had 10 - still a crazy stat line
10 blocks?!
20 blocks would indeed be insane ;)
Or, as Wilt Chamberlain would have called it “a good first quarter”
Saw a 9 minute highlight reel on youtube on this game. Hidden in plain sight were the several blocks on Kuminga. I've noticed this before. Maybe the last step in his development is going to be realizing bully-ball isn't the way to go with teams that have long-armed 7 footers.
Agreed. He believes he can dunk on anyone but sometimes he needs to throw in a couple pump fakes or get crafty. I’m going to sit down with him and look at film.
Last step is earning the trust of refs and getting fouls called for him
Huh? He gets a lot of fouls called for him
Yep, the 21 y/o still has some growing to do and going inside may have been part of the game plan to try and open things up. He also had at least one dunk over a 7 footer and still seemed in control.
NBA leaders, three pointers made
1. Curry, GS 241
2. Doncic, DAL 180
3. T. Young, ATL 165
4. DiVincenzo, NYK 164
5. Bogdanovic, ATL 163
On pace for 387 if he keeps playing games at his current pace (i.e. if he misses a couple more games), or 396 if he plays all of the remaining 31 and keeps hitting them at his current pace. 402 potentially in sight…
And, since you brought this up:
Dame Lillard ... remember when we thought he was going to be Steph's successor as the king of long-distance shooting?
Shooting .345 on 3 (i.e. probably below league average) on 8 1/2 attempts a game. On the same team as Giannis and Khris Middleton (other threats for the D to worry about).
Klay has 155 so he is just a tad behind the 3rd place grouping
plus dubs have played ~3 fewer games
Fricking DiVincenzo.
You could have won a lot of money off of me saying he would be on the 3 leaderboard at some point in his career.
Good for him. No way we could have kept him, but <regrets>
could we have paid him instead of poole?
I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I think the answer is no.
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/cap/2022/
Poole's extension kicked in this year, rather than last. So, we were only paying him ~ $4 mil last season when DDV was signed. We were still $75 mil over the cap. So, even if you'd traded Poole into cap space to get off that $4 mil, it wouldn't have been nearly enough.
The only routes we had to sign him was the taxpayer MLE or a league minimum contract, AFAIK.
could have signed him to a firm two year deal out of the gate instead of giving him a player option
He never would have signed a two-year mini-MLE deal. The reason he signed with us was to rebuild his value after his stints in Milwaukee and Sac. That's why it was a player option.
I’ve had a few…
But then again, too few to mention
Just think, if DDV
Had signed a mid-level exemption
Get outta here. No one could make 400 threes *in a single season* That’s insane no player no matter — oh, what? He did what?
One of one
Slater in The Athletic on Klay:
"Without Curry to open the fourth, Thompson made three consecutive midrange jumpers from nearly the same location, about 14 feet out next to the right elbow"
Guess who assisted him in all those shots? De de!
Curry's shooting percentages have gone up since Dray is back.
I believe same would be true for Klay if Dray played with him more. Klay is a rhythm player and nobody can get him in rhythm like Dray.
Klay needs to be more cerebral and patient irrespective. But it's chicken and egg sometimes.
If only we could find a really good point guard to back up Curry & Dray when they're off the floor. Like the god of point guards... he could help get good shots for Klay . We could call him the Point God or something...
They might even try pairing him with Dario Sarić.
I’m not actually that excited about CP. he’s been fine but I wouldn’t say he’s really moved the needle much especially being a real liability on defense. And slow in transition offense. A lot of the Warrior recent surge has been about getting stops and getting into transition or semi transition. I’m not mad at CP but I think we can do this without him
Yes. Part of the new-found pep is just that we're getting stops, AND pushing it up the floor fast.
When Paul gets back, I don't know that he's going to be OK pushing the pace. It felt like he gave it a half-hearted try before the injury and then reverted back to walking it up the floor.
Drives me bananas. This team has like seven guys who thrive on chaos (Steph, Klay, Kuminga, LQ, Podz, GPII, and sorta Wiggs) . We need to push pace.
He's smart and sees what's happening though? I can't imagine CP3 just sprinting up with the ball every play, but I can see him passing ahead quite a lot
Maybe, but pushing the ball up the floor means that everybody runs ... even those guys behind the play. Which creates more pressure on the defenders who did get back. If nothing else, they will sometimes need to make some defensive decisions that wouldn't be needed if it's just a hit-ahead to a couple of guys.
I think there is a lot of benefit in just running as a discipline. It uses our depth, keeps everyone on the court focused, and it keeps the other team from settling into their half court defense, at least some of the time. And, some teams can be sped up by constant pace.
If there's nothing there when you push, you can always back the ball out and set something up. You have plenty of clock.
Plus, as I say, I think we thrive on chaos, because we're a good passing team, with lots of opportunistic scorers. I'd like to see us maximize those opportunities.
Yes, Podz shows the way here: he *always* starts out pushing the ball frantically off the rebound or inbound and either dribbles back out of the paint or holds it at the top or the wing if it's too clogged. It has unlocked a lot of read-react flow and IMO is why Kerr runs him at point so much. CP3 has to get with this program.
Where we gonna find a guy like that? Couldn't even afford him because we're saddled with Poole's contract and baggage... -May 2023 Warriors Fan.
In regards to setting up Klay, I’m sure you’re right. Even still, I’m a little worried about whose minutes he’s going to take and whether the inevitable change of pace is what we need right now. A good problem, I guess.
Wiggins, in his last 11 games, is a +105 in 326 minutes (+11.5 per 36 min).
His three was a freaking laser last night. It was beautiful.
Warriors just out rebounded the 2nd leading rebounding team in the NBA on the road, at elevation, with all their size... #theytoosmallernuh
Just saw that old friend of the Show Donte DiVicenzo ended up getting Thibs’ed earlier this evening. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
Running, running, running
Fun game.
Man, HIELD proving a difference-maker for SIXERS; GIANNIS/BUCKS DEFENSE destroyed DENVER; WEMBANYAMA with rare block tripled-double beats RAPTORS; MILES BRIDGES/HORNETS, upsets PACERS; and, ANTHONY EDWARDS/T-WOLVES UPEND CLIPPERS HOFers...What a night....
Poole party went for 3 points tonight lol. Bro has a 20 year career in the nba as a tank commander.
JP obviously has some talent, but he is floundering outside of the Warriors' ecosystem. He's rich, so there's that, but he is not becoming the best version of himself.
Wemby with a triple double on Pts/Reb/Blk… he’s prob gonna have a quad sometime…
He's hit 10 assists once this year already, so I'd guess it'll happen within a few years tbh. With how he's look for the past like month it might happen this year lol
Draymond half-time buzzer beater long range running 3: magnificent. It’s stuff like this that makes me think maybe just maybe the worm has turned.
Wow Kessler played the Warriors even in a 20 point loss! He and all the Warriors players were pretty good out there!
After tonight's game, I wish he was our starting center.
TJD was plenty good out there.
Would totally love to watch Kessler but we have what we need.